Bill ConnellyJan 9, 2026, 11:42 PM ETCloseBill Connelly is a writer for ESPN. He covers college football, soccer and tennis. He has been at ESPN since 2019.Follow on X
play0:51Indiana starts off Peach Bowl with an electric pick-sixOregon QB Dante Moore goes to pass, but is picked off by Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds, who takes it to the crib for a touchdown.
play0:59Indiana scores TD after bizarre Dante Moore fumbleAfter Indiana recovers a fumble by Dante Moore, Kaelon Black punches it in for the Hoosiers a few plays later.
play0:59Charlie Becker makes sensational leaping grab for an Indiana TDIndiana QB Fernando Mendoza lobs it to Charlie Becker in the end zone, who makes an incredible leaping catch for the score.
play0:49Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy bursts free for a 73-yard TDKewan Lacy goes untouched for a 73-yard touchdown to give Ole Miss a 7-3 lead.
play0:47Miami’s Carson Beck connects with Keelan Marion for a 52-yard go-ahead TDCarson Beck hits a wide-open Keelan Marion, who walks into the end zone to put the Hurricanes back on top.
play0:58Miami regains lead on Malachi Toney’s 36-yard TDMalachi Toney evades tackles on his way to a 36-yard touchdown to give Miami the lead back.
play0:57Miami wins after Ole Miss’ Hail Mary attempt falls incompleteTrinidad Chambliss airs one out to the end zone, but it’s too far and falls incomplete.
Kaelon Black’s TD puts exclamation point on Peach Bowl for Indiana (0:30)Kaelon Black finds a hole and speeds to the end zone for a touchdown to give Indiana a 56-15 lead. (0:30)
Indiana starts off Peach Bowl with an electric pick-sixOregon QB Dante Moore goes to pass, but is picked off by Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds, who takes it to the crib for a touchdown.
Oregon QB Dante Moore goes to pass, but is picked off by Indiana’s D’Angelo Ponds, who takes it to the crib for a touchdown.
Indiana scores TD after bizarre Dante Moore fumbleAfter Indiana recovers a fumble by Dante Moore, Kaelon Black punches it in for the Hoosiers a few plays later.
After Indiana recovers a fumble by Dante Moore, Kaelon Black punches it in for the Hoosiers a few plays later.
Charlie Becker makes sensational leaping grab for an Indiana TDIndiana QB Fernando Mendoza lobs it to Charlie Becker in the end zone, who makes an incredible leaping catch for the score.
Indiana QB Fernando Mendoza lobs it to Charlie Becker in the end zone, who makes an incredible leaping catch for the score.
Ole Miss’ Kewan Lacy bursts free for a 73-yard TDKewan Lacy goes untouched for a 73-yard touchdown to give Ole Miss a 7-3 lead.
Miami’s Carson Beck connects with Keelan Marion for a 52-yard go-ahead TDCarson Beck hits a wide-open Keelan Marion, who walks into the end zone to put the Hurricanes back on top.
Carson Beck hits a wide-open Keelan Marion, who walks into the end zone to put the Hurricanes back on top.
Miami regains lead on Malachi Toney’s 36-yard TDMalachi Toney evades tackles on his way to a 36-yard touchdown to give Miami the lead back.
Miami wins after Ole Miss’ Hail Mary attempt falls incompleteTrinidad Chambliss airs one out to the end zone, but it’s too far and falls incomplete.
Texas, Penn State and Clemson were among the preseason national title favorites but fell well short. Ohio State spent most of the season at No. 1 in the polls but lost to Indiana in the Big Ten championship game and quickly bowed out to Miami in the College Football Playoff. And now we know our national title game matchup.
The Hoosiers and Hurricanes will play in the CFP National Championship Presented by AT&T on Jan. 19 in Miami’s Hard Rock Stadium; the former are looking to complete an otherworldly 16-game run to win their first crown, while the latter have rekindled old magic and will play for their first title since 2001.
On Thursday night in the Vrbo Fiesta Bowl, Miami watched multiple leads disappear, dropped several potential interceptions, committed penalties and still gutted its way into the CFP championship game with a 31-27 win over Ole Miss. Carson Beck’s 3-yard touchdown run made the difference, but it was a wonderful back-and-forth game until the end.
On Friday evening in the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, Indiana didn’t waste any time. The Hoosiers led 7-0 after one play against Oregon and 35-7 at halftime, eventually cruising 56-22. They have been the best team in the country, and they’ve played their two best games in the past two weeks.
The best team in the country played like it yet again. In front of a lopsided Mercedes-Benz Stadium crowd in Atlanta, Indiana scored on a D’Angelo Ponds pick-six on the first play of the game, and though Oregon responded with a lengthy touchdown drive, the Hoosiers ratcheted up the pressure and cruised.
Two more Oregon turnovers led to touchdowns, Heisman winner Fernando Mendoza completed 17 of 20 passes, five for scores, and Indiana led 42-7 early in the second half. Oregon’s offense made some plays in the third quarter but couldn’t do much damage on the scoreboard, and a blocked punt by sophomore Daniel Ndukwe — who also had two sacks and a forced fumble in a career game — set up Mendoza’s fifth TD pass of the evening to make it 49-15. And the Hoosiers kept rolling from there.
In their past two games, Curt Cignetti’s Hoosiers have beaten Alabama and Oregon by a combined 69 points. Obviously, upsets can happen, but they will be comfortable favorites to win the national title over Miami and become the second major college football team to finish a season 16-0, joining Yale in 1894. If you haven’t wrapped your head around the Hoosiers’ being this damn good, you’re running out of time.
Indiana starts off Peach Bowl with an electric pick-six
With Ponds’ first-play pick-six, Indiana’s win probability immediately jumped to 76%, and while Oregon would soon tie the score, the Hoosiers took the lead again, then took advantage of a gifted fumble. The ensuing TD pushed their win probability past 90%.
Signs were quickly pointing to an easy Hoosiers win, and Charlie Becker’s 36-yard touchdown catch over Brandon Finney Jr. late in the second quarter basically ended the game.
Charlie Becker makes sensational leaping grab for an Indiana TD
One stat I focused on in this game was Oregon’s success rate. The Ducks were ruthlessly efficient in 2025, posting a 49.1% success rate on the season, ninth in the country. But they were at just 34.4% in the first game against the Hoosiers. It had to improve for them to have a chance, and it was at 46.7% when they tied the score at 7-7. But it was just 25.0% for the rest of the first half. That, plus the turnover disasters, finished this off by halftime.
Still, you can make a good case that Oregon arrived to the semifinals ahead of schedule. The Ducks had a newly reconstructed offensive line and a new starting quarterback (albeit a blue-chipper and potential future top NFL draft pick in Moore), and they relied on freshmen such as running backs Jordon Davison (injured for Friday’s game) and Hill, receivers Dakorien Moore and Jeremiah McClellan, corner Brandon Finney Jr. and safety Aaron Flowers.
We’ll have to wait and see if Dante Moore returns to Eugene, and Lanning will move forward with two new coordinators after losing Will Stein (Kentucky) and Tosh Lupoi (Cal) to head coaching gigs. But Oregon will again have one of the most loaded rosters in the country in 2026. Basically, the only thing Lanning hasn’t engineered so far is an appearance in the title game. It doesn’t feel like he’ll have to wait much longer.
(You can forgive him, however, if he never wants to play in Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium again. Including a 2022 loss to Georgia, his Ducks have lost twice there by a combined 105-25.)
The Hurricanes obviously have plenty to offer: fantastic line play, strong skill corps talent and a team-of-destiny feel after a magical run of playoff wins. But Indiana is the best team in the country and just needs to prove it one more time.
Miami paid millions of dollars to bring Carson Beck to town, and in the drive that would define his season with the Hurricanes, he led them 75 yards for the winning touchdown to send them to the national title game. Money well spent, huh?
Beck’s 3-yard touchdown scramble with 18 seconds left capped a madcap fourth quarter that featured four lead changes and even saw Ole Miss drive close enough for a shot at the end zone on the final play.
Miami games don’t tend to feature many big plays, for or against, but chunk plays caused some pretty big swings in this one.
Kewan Lacy’s 73-yard burst early in the second quarter — Ole Miss’ first good offensive play of the game — gave the Rebels a sudden 7-3 lead. Lacy tweaked a hamstring and missed most of the next two quarters before returning, but the touchdown bought Ole Miss some time.
Kewan Lacy goes untouched for a 73-yard touchdown to give Ole Miss a 7-3 lead.
Miami leveraged the game back in its favor. Keelan Marion scored on a bomb against busted coverage late in the first half to make it 17-10. After generating just 69 receiving yards in his first two playoff games, he was the semifinal star of the Miami receiving corps, catching seven passes for 114 yards.
Miami’s Carson Beck connects with Keelan Marion for a 52-yard go-ahead TD
Malachi Toney evades tackles on his way to a 36-yard touchdown to give Miami the lead back.
Ole Miss created the third lead change of the fourth quarter with Wright’s touchdown but left plenty time on the clock for Beck and the Canes. They used most of it, took the lead and broke up a Hail Mary.
Miami wins after Ole Miss’ Hail Mary attempt falls incomplete
Trinidad Chambliss airs one out to the end zone, but it’s too far and falls incomplete.
Pete Golding inherited a seemingly impossible situation with Kiffin leaving, but Ole Miss closed ranks and came achingly close to earning a spot in the national title game. Better yet, stars such as Chambliss (if he is granted an extra year of eligibility) and Lacy have already committed to staying in Oxford despite Kiffin’s efforts to bring them to Baton Rouge. Some stars have exhausted their eligibility, but Ole Miss enters 2026 battle-hardened and full of upside.